The Kusunoki Ninja Princess
by Cierastar
Summary: Lily is just an ordinary girl until five ninja show up at the temple claiming she's the Ninja Princess. Now Lily has to face tough training and dangerous battles in order to build a bright future for all ninja and in the middle of it all Lily falls in love with the cold and mean ninja, Saizo. Will Lily be able to change his heart in the middle of this war?
1. Prologue

Prologue

"_Mommy, daddy!" A girl the age of 4 ran around a big castle calling out her parents' names followed by a white wolf. All of a sudden a huge fire was started by Nobunaga's forces and the castle was engulfed in flames. "Princess!" The little girl was swept up and rushed out of the castle the wolf following close behind its young master. "We must protect the Princess no matter what! She is the most important so she needs to live!" The girl was hurried away from the castle and away from her parents to a village in the mountains. The ninja that carried her moved as fast as the wind. When they stopped the ninja walked over to an old man and gave the sleeping Princess to the old man. "Please take care of this child and protect her from harm. I believe she will not remember anything of what's happened til now. Please take care of our Ninja Princess. In time we will send someone to retrieve her so care for her well. Now I must leave. I trust that you'll take care of her?" The old man smiled at the ninja with a nod. "Of course I will. I'll raise her as if she were my own granddaughter so do not worry. She is in good hands but may I ask her name?" The ninja smiled as he stared at the sleeping girl. "Her name is Lily." The elder smiled as he looked down at the small girl. "Lily means beauty and purity. It is a name worthy of a Ninja Princess like her." The ninja left with the wolf after the elder finished his sentence and from that day forward Lily was raised by the elder._

Chief Priest's POV

"Excuse me but have you seen Lily?" I asked one of the monks that lived in the temple.

"Sorry sir but I have seen the young one today. But my guess is that she's probably jumping trees or racing animals again." The monk walked back towards the temple as I started towards the forest looking for the eight year old girl. I walked through the small village and greeted everyone when they greeted me. I finally reached the forest and walked towards one of Lily's favorite spots.

"Lily it is time to go home now!" I yelled through the forest and I heard nothing except the wind and the rustling of leaves. _Where is that girl? _I thought when all of a sudden she came out of nowhere and made a flip as she landed on the ground.

"Okay grandpa!" She smiled so sweetly that she looked even more innocent than before. She took my hand and we started back towards the house.

Lily's POV

It's really fun when you sneak up on someone because they never know where I am because I'm so quiet! Me and grandpa walked back towards the house in silence. I always wonder who my parents were and what happened to them. Grandpa said that they died when I was younger but I'm not sure. I always have dreams of this beautiful woman and in some of the dreams she would hug me and speak sweetly to me. Sometimes a handsome man would appear beside the lady and talk just as sweet. They would always look at me so lovingly but I didn't really know who they were.

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**Ugh I feel so depressed! I just hate getting negative comments! They always lower my morale and it makes me feel like trash. AHH! Forget I said anything! Let's just start over... Hi guys I hope you like this chapter because more will be up soon and that's pretty much all I have to say! So farewell for now! :D**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: I'm A Princess?!

_(12 Years Later) _My 20th birthday had already passed and grandpa had gotten me a sapphire blue ribbon that matched the color of my eyes. It's not much but I still like it anyways. I had also found a beautiful white lily and placed it in my hair. As I walk to the hot springs I'm greeted by everyone in the village.

"Good morning Lily! How have you been?" I looked towards an elderly woman and smiled sweetly.

"I'm doing fine and how are you?" The woman's eyes lit up with happiness.

"I'm doing fine thank you!" The woman smiled with a gentle look in her eyes as I continued to the waterfall.

"Miss Lily is always so kind, hardworking, and generous!"

"Yes she is and she is a very beautiful young woman too!" I heard the voices of the villagers as they talked so fondly about me.

"Yes she must be the most beautiful young woman in the whole village!" I felt my face heat up as the comments continued to come. I began walking in the direction of the hot springs hidden on the mountain. The wind picked up a little and blew through my burgundy colored hair silently.

Grandpa never liked it when I went off on my own. I reached the secluded waterfall and felt the familiar warmth of the water. I slowly took off my sapphire blue kimono with pink cherry blossoms spread out along the bottom half of it. I folded the kimono carefully and placed it down on a rock. Then I removed my sandals and also placed them on the rock before slipping into the warm water. I also made sure to remove the ribbon from my hair but I decided to leave the flower alone. I sat down on a rock that was in the water and sighed in content. It was the only hidden waterfall on the mountain and luckily for me I'm the only one who knows about this place. The warm yet cool water on my skin felt so good and relaxing which is why I loved it here. I recalled how I came across this place. It was by accident really but that day I was leaping through the trees from branch to branch like I did when I was a child when I came across this place and ever since that day I came here all the time.

_(20 Minutes Later) _I've left the waterfall and made my way back to the village. Once I get back to the temple I find something unexpected right after I feed the kittens…

"So you're her." _What the? Who said that?! _I look around searching for the source of the voice until a ninja jumps down from one of the trees in the courtyard.

"What are ninja doing here…?" I ask under my breath and then three more appear out of the blue.

"We are ninja from Koga, Fuma, and Iga. We've come to retrieve you Princess." The white haired ninja said. _Ninja? Princess? What are they talking about?_

"I'm Sasuke Sarotobi and I'm a ninja from Koga." The orange haired guy spoke with excitement.

"I'm Goemon Ishikawa and I'm one of the greatest ninja in Iga and I'm really great between the sheets. I can show you…" The red headed guy approached me and I responded quickly.

"Um, no." I said flatly. Goemon gave a small pout.

"I'm Saizo Kirigakure and I'm a ninja from Koga like the stupid monkey here." Said the guy with the blue violet hair.

"…I am Kotaro Fuma and I will lay down my life to protect you Princess."_ Lay down his life?! Why are they calling me Princess?_

"I'm Lily Aikawa. Why do you continue to call me _Princess_ and what do you mean by _we're here to retrieve you_?" I was hopelessly lost with this conversation.

"You are the Kusunoki Ninja Princess. Daughter of Musashige and Mika Kusunoki." _Ninja Princess? Surely they are mistaken. _I thought as I stared at them. "I don't know what you're talking about." I sighed.

Third Person POV

"Why are ninja here in this village?" The elder asked slowly.

"We came to retrieve the Ninja Princess." Hanzo spoke calmly.

"Already? I didn't think that this day would come so soon…" The elder's voice shook as he thought about his granddaughter.

"She is the Kusunoki Ninja Princess. The source of all ninjutsu. She is the sole heir to the Kusonoki style and she is the Symbol of Unity for all ninjas." The Iga elder spoke calmly with the chief priest. "She was given to you by a ninja so she would be safe. As you know Nobunaga Oda wants to wipe out all ninja. He already knows of the Princess's existence so she is no longer safe here and neither are you or the villagers. We must bring her back to Iga with us so she can start her training." The Iga elder finished.

_Rip! _The door ripped and standing on the other side was…

"Lily? What are you doing here? I thought I told the monks to tell you not to come into the temple." Lily stared at her grandfather.

"Grandpa, what are they talking about? Am I really the Ninja Princess?" The Iga elder then spoke.

"It is nice to finally meet you Princess. I am the elder of Iga Village and this is my son, Hanzo Hattori. You are the Kusunoki Ninja Princess and you'll unite all ninja. You are the sole heir of all ninjutsu. Your parents were the best ninja out of us all and their ninja blood runs through your veins." The elder finished and Lily fell silent.

"I'm sorry but I must go." Lily said and quickly left the room.

Lily's POV

I soon found myself in the center of the village playing with the children.

"You have to count now Lily!" A little girl said excitedly.

"Okay, okay. 1…2…3..." Before I could get to the next number…

"Grrr!"

"AHH!" The children started screaming because there was a bear in the village!

"All of you need to get out of the area, now!" The children did as I said and ran to another part of the village.

"Growl!" The bear was obviously agitated. I slowly approached the bear and spoke in a soothing voice.

"It's okay I'm not going to hurt you…" The bear looked into my eyes and calmed down. I felt eyes on me but I brushed it off and approached the bear. "Ah…so your foot was caught in a trap…" The bear's foot was caught in a trap and the wound went deep. I reached my hand out and the bear sniffed it before putting its muzzle against my hand. I petted the bear's muzzle and he calmed down even more. "Here let me take the trap off. Now this may hurt but please bear with it…" I put my hands on the trap and pried it open. The bear roared in pain as I removed the trap. "There all better." I said softly and the bear rubbed its head against my hand before departing back into the forest. I disposed of the trap and turned to find four very surprised faces with one knowing face.

"Once again well done, Lily." I looked over at grandpa.

"Oh, thank you grandpa." Grandpa looked at the five surprised ninjas and laughed. Though the Iga elder looked perfectly calm.

"Ahaha! I forgot to mention that all animals adore Lily." Yuki came back with the children right after grandpa said that.

"Is the bear gone…?" Asked a little boy. I knelt down in front of him with a warm smile.

"Yes it's gone now." The boy smiled and hugged me.

"Thank you Lily! You're the best!" I giggled as I hugged the boy back. I released the boy and saw serious looks on everyone's faces.

"Okay all of you run along now." The children ran off to another part of the village and I turned to face the ninjas.

"You must pick one of us to travel with." _Travel? What does he mean? Where are we going? _

"Lily you are the Kusunoki Ninja Princess. You are the source of all ninjutsu and a Symbol of Unity for all ninjas. You must go with them to Iga for the safety of yourself. I can no longer keep you safe but they can. I am not your real grandpa and I am not related to you in any way. The only purpose I was given was to keep you safe and now you must go." I looked down for a few minutes before looking back up.

"Okay… I'll go with Saizo then." I said quietly.

"Saizo you'd better take care of her!" Sasuke was obviously upset with my choice. I turned to grandpa as the ninjas dealt with Sasuke.

"Don't look so sad Lily. We'll see each other again I'm sure of it. Now off you go." I hugged grandpa tightly.

"Bye grandpa…" I whispered to him softly.

"Bye Lily… Make a bright future for yourself and all the ninjas." I nodded my head as I pulled away. Goemon, Kotaro, Hanzo, the Iga chief, and Sasuke took different routes to get to Iga. Sasuke took the mountain road, Goemon traveled on another road that went through a couple cities, Kotaro traveled through the trees, Hanzo and the elder rode by horse through the mountain pass, while Saizo and I traveled the road through the forest. The road was long and difficult from what I'm used to but I managed. I kept up with Saizo nicely as we walked. Saizo seemed a little impressed at how well I was keeping up. Every now and then we'd stop somewhere and train a bit. Saizo taught me how to use a sickle and chain but I still need just a little more practice with it but I'll get better at it! I wonder about my real training as a ninja because as soon as I get to Iga that will be the start of my real ninja training.

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**Still feeling down in the dumps... I hope you guys liked this chapter because I had to rethink on it so many times that it gave me a headache but anyway here it is and I hope you liked it! In chapter 2 Lily and Saizo will have some…difficulties but they will get to their destination in the end and that will only be the beginning! So please leave comments and I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye! ;D**


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